British Columbia

• Components of welfare incomes
• Changes to welfare incomes
• Adequacy of welfare incomes
• Changes to adequacy of welfare incomes

Last updated: November 2022

This resource is not intended to help individuals identify what government transfers they could be entitled to. Individuals living in British Columbia seeking financial assistance should visit this page.

In British Columbia, households that qualify for basic social assistance payments also qualify for:

• Recurring additional social assistance payments from the province;
• Federal and provincial child benefits (for households with children); and
• Federal and provincial tax credits or benefits.

Together, these components combine to form a household’s total welfare income. Households may receive less if they have income from other sources, or more if they have special health- or disability-related needs. In 2021, all of these households were also eligible for payments related to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

The table below shows the value of the welfare income components of the four example household types in British Columbia in 2021. All four households are assumed to be living in Vancouver. The child in the single parent household is two years old and the children in the couple household are ten and 15. COVID-19 pandemic-related payments are included where applicable in the table below.

Components of welfare incomes, 2021

Note: Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Total annual welfare incomes in 2021 ranged from $12,073 for the unattached single considered employable to $36,614 for the couple with two children. The unattached single with a disability received $17,880 and the single parent with one child received $26,878.

Basic social assistance: Three of the example households received Income Assistance while the unattached single with a disability received Disability Assistance. The monthly basic support allowance for all of the example households increased by $175 per month in May 2021, followed by slight adjustment increases in October for three of the example households. The couple with two children also received an increase to the shelter allowance in October.

In addition, all four households received a COVID-19 pandemic-related BC Recovery Supplement of $150 per month per adult in the first three months of the year.

Additional social assistance: All four households received additional social assistance benefits. All four received an annual Christmas Allowance in the amount of $35 for the unattached single households and $70 plus $10 for each dependent child for the single parent and couple households. The couple with two children also received an annual School Start-Up Supplement of $100 for the ten-year-old and $175 for the 15-year-old. The unattached single with a disability received the $624 Transportation Supplement, which recipients could choose to receive as a bus pass issued through the BC Bus Pass Program or as a $52 per month payment intended to assist with transportation costs. These amounts remained unchanged in 2021.

Federal child benefits: Both households with children received the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), which increased with inflation in July 2021 from $563.75 to $569.42 per month for a child under six years of age and from $475.66 to $480.41 per month for a child aged six to 17. In addition, the single parent of one child aged two received the COVID-19 pandemic-related CCB Young Child Supplement, given to CCB-eligible families with children under the age of six, of $300 per child in January, April, July, and October.

Provincial child benefits: Both households with children received the BC Child Opportunity Benefit (BCCOB). 2021 was the first full year of this benefit, as the BCCOB replaced the BC Early Childhood Tax Benefit as of October 2020. The single parent with one child received the first child amount of $133.33 monthly while the couple with two children received the first child amount and the second child amount of $83.33 monthly.

Federal tax credits / benefits: All four households received the GST/HST credit, which increased in July 2021 with inflation. The unattached single considered employable and the unattached single with a disability received $297.50 in basic GST/HST credit, while the single parent with one child received $595 and the couple with two children received $907. Three households also received the GST/HST credit supplement. The unattached single considered employable received $21.69, the unattached single with a disability received $123.46, and the single parent with one child received the maximum amount of $156.

Provincial tax credits / benefits: All four households also received the BC Sales Tax Credit and the BC Climate Action Tax Credit (BCCATC). The BC Sales Tax Credit amount was unchanged at $75 per adult. The BCCATC was unchanged at $174 for each adult and the first child in a single parent family, plus $51 for any additional children.

In addition, all four households received the COVID-19 pandemic-related BC Recovery Benefit, which was issued in March. The two unattached singles received $500 and the single parent and couple with two children received $1000.

COVID-19 pandemic-related payments

Pandemic-related payments available to the example British Columbia households came primarily from provincial programs (i.e., the BC Recovery Benefit and the BC Recovery Supplement), but the single parent of one child also received the Canada Child Benefit Young Child Supplement of $300 per child, paid in January, April, July, and October. In total, the unattached single considered employable and the unattached single with a disability received an additional $950 related to the pandemic, while the single parent with one child received $2,650 and the couple with two children received $1,900. These amounts are included in, and are not in addition to, the benefits described in the Components section above.

COVID-19 pandemic-related payments, 2021

Changes to welfare incomes

The graphs below show how the total welfare incomes for each of the four example household types in British Columbia have changed over time. Note that the values are in 2021 constant dollars, not in nominal dollars. Using constant dollars takes into account the effect of inflation, as measured by the national Consumer Price Index, given that inflation reduces real dollar values over time.

Welfare incomes for both unattached singles have followed a similar pattern. An overall increase in value until 1994 was followed by a decline between 1994 and 2016, with a brief increase in the mid-2000s. Since 2016, welfare incomes have seen a notable increase.

The particularly large increase to the total welfare incomes of both these households in 2020, which was the peak across the time series, is primarily the result of provincial COVID-19 pandemic-related payments. The decline in 2021 is mainly due to the loss of pandemic-related payments available in 2020, but this effect was moderated by the increase to basic social assistance benefits and the introduction of new pandemic-related payments for 2021.

In 2021, the unattached single considered employable received $12,073 in total income and the unattached single with a disability received $17,880.

Increases in welfare incomes for households with children through the 1980s were followed by a general decline between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s. Small increases in the mid-2000s were followed by another gradual decline until 2014. Changes to child benefits caused welfare incomes to increase between 2015 and 2019.

In 2020, welfare incomes rose sharply, due primarily to COVID-19 pandemic-related payments from both provincial and federal programs. The decline in 2021, which was slight for the single parent and greater for the couple with two children, is primarily due to the loss of 2020 pandemic-related payments, which was moderated by increases to basic social assistance benefits as well as the introduction of new pandemic-related payments for 2021.

Note that while the welfare income of the single parent with one child increased in nominal value between 2020 and 2021, the effect of inflation negated this increase.

In 2021, the single parent with one child received $26,878, while the couple with two children received $36,614.

Adequacy of welfare incomes

The adequacy of a household’s total welfare income can be assessed by comparing it to established thresholds of poverty and/or low income.

In Canada, there are two commonly used measures of poverty:

• The Market Basket Measure (MBM), Canada’s Official Poverty Line, identifies households whose disposable income is less than the cost of a “basket” of goods and services that represent a basic standard of living.
• Deep Income Poverty (MBM-DIP) identifies households whose disposable income is less than 75 per cent of the MBM.

There are also two commonly used measures of low income:

• The Low Income Measure (LIM) identifies households whose income is substantially below what is typical in society (less than half of the median income).
• The Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) identifies households that are likely to spend a disproportionately large share of their income on the necessities of food, clothing, and shelter.

Note that MBM thresholds vary by province and community size, and LICO thresholds vary by community size, and so those for Vancouver are used in the analysis below. As well, both the MBM and LIM thresholds for 2021 are estimates based on increasing the 2020 thresholds to account for inflation.

Note also that none of the poverty or low-income measures currently in use in Canada account for the higher cost of living faced by persons with disabilities, and thus these additional costs are not reflected in our analysis.

More information about the thresholds is available in the methodology section.

A table containing comparisons of the welfare incomes of the four example household types in British Columbia with all four poverty / low-income thresholds is available for download.

Poverty threshold comparisons

The figures below compare 2021 welfare incomes for the four example household types to the MBM and MBM-DIP thresholds for Vancouver.

The welfare incomes of all four example household types in British Columbia in 2021 were below Canada’s Official Poverty Line, meaning all these households were living in poverty. All of the household types were also living in deep poverty in 2021, as defined by the MBM-DIP.

The unattached single considered employable had the lowest income relative to the poverty thresholds. Their income was $7,396 below the deep income poverty threshold and $13,886 below the poverty line. In other words, their income was only 62 per cent of the MBM-DIP and only 47 per cent of the MBM.

The unattached single with a disability fared better, with an income that was $1,589 below the deep income poverty threshold but $8,079 below the poverty line. In other words, their income was 92 per cent of the MBM-DIP and 69 per cent of the MBM.

Note that the poverty experienced by persons with disabilities is under-represented because neither the MBM nor the MBM-DIP account for the additional costs associated with disability.

The incomes relative to the poverty thresholds of the two households with children were comparable.

The income of the single parent with one child was $656 below the deep income poverty threshold and $9,834 below the poverty line. This means their income was 98 per cent of the MBM-DIP and 73 per cent of the MBM.

The income of the couple with two children was $2,325 below the deep income poverty threshold and $15,305 below the poverty line. In other words, their income was 94 per cent of the MBM-DIP and 71 per cent of the MBM.

Low-income threshold comparisons

The welfare incomes of these households were also below, and in some instances only half of, the low-income thresholds, as shown in the table linked above.

The lowest income relative to the thresholds was that of the unattached single considered employable, whose total welfare income was only 44 per cent of the LIM and 53 per cent of the LICO. The highest was that of the single parent with one child whose welfare income was 69 per cent of the LIM and 97 per cent of the LICO. The unattached single with a disability had an income of 65 per cent of the LIM and 78 per cent of the LICO. The income of the couple with two children was 67 per cent of the LIM and 85 per cent of the LICO.

Changes to adequacy of welfare incomes

The graphs below show the total welfare incomes of each of the four example household types in British Columbia as a percentage of the Market Basket Measure (MBM), starting in 2002. The MBM has been updated twice since its creation in 2000 – first in 2008 and again in 2018. This “rebasing” updates the measure, including the items and costs included in the basket, to better reflect contemporary circumstances.

Three trendlines for each household are shown, which correspond to the relationship between welfare incomes and the original and rebased MBMs. Rebasing typically creates a higher poverty threshold than that of a previous base.

The 100 per cent threshold at the top of the vertical axis represents Canada’s Official Poverty Line. As such, the graphs essentially show how far below the poverty line the households have been in terms of their total welfare income over the past 20 years. The trendlines indicate changes in the level of poverty of the households within the years in which the bases are applied. A rise in the trendline within those periods indicates an improvement in their level of poverty while a decline indicates a worsening of the depth of their poverty.

A grey line has also been included that indicates the deep income poverty threshold, which is 75 per cent of the MBM. As such, the graphs also show the relationship between total welfare incomes over time and deep poverty.

Note that MBM thresholds reflect conditions in each province or territory and vary by size of community. The MBM threshold used here is for Vancouver. Also note that the 2021 MBM thresholds are estimates based on increasing the 2020 thresholds to account for inflation. ​More information is in the methodology section.

The total welfare income of the unattached single considered employable increased slightly relative to the poverty line between 2002 and 2008 after an initial decline through 2006, from 44 to 47 per cent. A decrease with the 2008 rebasing, to 43 per cent of the poverty line, was followed by a slight decline to 39 per cent in 2016 followed by an uptick to 44 per cent in 2018. Another rebasing-related decline to 37 per cent in 2018 was followed by a significant increase, to a high of 51 per cent of the poverty line in 2020. A slight decline in 2021 saw their welfare income at 47 per cent of the poverty line.

Overall, only a slight reduction has been made in the poverty of the unattached single considered employable household over the entire time series, which means that their level of poverty improved only slightly since 2002. As well, the income of the unattached single considered employable was below the deep income poverty threshold across the entire time series, meaning they would have been living in deep poverty over the last 20 years.

The total welfare income of the unattached single with a disability followed a similar trend, while starting at the much higher level of 66 per cent of the poverty line in 2002 and reaching the only slightly higher level of 68 per cent in 2008. In the 2008 to 2018 period, their income declined slightly from 63 per cent of the poverty line to 59 per cent in 2016, with a sharp increase to 73 per cent of the poverty line in 2018. After the 2018 rebasing, their welfare income moved from 61 per cent to the high of 74 per cent of the poverty line in 2020, with a decline to 69 per cent in 2021.

Overall, the total welfare income of the unattached single with a disability has remained flat relative to the poverty line across the entire time series, which means that overall this household is living at virtually the same depth of poverty as they were in 2002. In addition, their income was below the deep income poverty threshold across the entire time series, meaning they would have been living in deep poverty over the last 20 years.

The welfare income of the single parent with one child improved relative to the poverty line between 2002 and 2008, from 66 to 72 per cent. Their income relative to the poverty line then fell slightly, from 66 per cent in 2008 to 63 per cent in 2014, after which it increased gradually to 72 per cent in 2018. After the 2018 rebasing, their income increased from 60 per cent 2018 to 73 per cent of the poverty line in 2021.

The welfare income of the single parent with one child was seven percentage points higher relative to the poverty line at the end of the time series than at the beginning. This means that the depth of their poverty has lessened since 2002. However, it’s important to note that their income remained below the deep income poverty threshold across the time series, meaning they would have been living in deep poverty for the entire 20-year period.

The welfare income of the couple with two children started at the slightly lower relative value of 62 per cent of the poverty line in 2002, improving only slightly to 63 per cent by 2008. A slight decrease from 58 per cent of the poverty line in 2008 to 56 per cent in 2014 was followed by an improvement to 66 per cent in 2018. After the 2018 rebasing, their income increased from 55 per cent of the poverty line in 2018 to a high of 73 per cent in 2020, finishing out the time series at 71 per cent in 2021.

Like that of the single parent with one child household, the welfare income of the couple with two children was nine percentage points higher in 2021 than in 2002, which indicates that the depth of their poverty has lessened somewhat over the time series. However, their income also remained under the deep income poverty threshold across the time series, meaning that they would have been living in deep poverty for the entire 20-year period.